TSAR IVAN ‘THE TERRIBLE’
DON’T PUNCH ABOVE YOUR WEIGHT
Putin has often been described as punching above his weight, taking a country with a
GDP roughly equivalent to Spain’s (although the measure is admittedly deceptive) and a defence budget that equals Britain’s (although this is even more deceptive, as it is based on ruble-to-pound exchange rates) and making people treat it like a great military power.
For years, this stood him in good stead, allowing him to face down the West and play a disproportionate role on the world stage. However, eventually this does mean that others will take your posturing at face value, and you will find yourself treated accordingly.
Ivan IV, known as Grozny – usually translated as ‘the Terrible’, although ‘the Dread’ or even ‘the Awesome’ are more accurate – was at once the maker of the Russian state and almost its breaker. Although the public image is shaped by his latter years, as he descended into violent and paranoid madness, the first part of his 16th-century reign was marked by the foundation of many of the institutions of today’s Russian state. For example the modern MVD, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is an evolution of his Banditry Office, just as MID, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explicitly dates itself back to his Ambassadors’ Office. Ivan also established Russia’s first standing army, the Streltsy (‘Shooters’ or ‘Musketeers’), and invested heavily in what would become a traditional Russian strength – artillery.
He used these in a variety of foreign wars, including the successful conquest of the Kazan Khanate in 1551-52. However, his expansionism and the rising profile of Muscovy’s military power meant that, like it or not, he became embroiled in struggles with nations rather more formidable than the khanates of the east. Ivan would fight wars over Astrakhan with Turkey (1568-70) and Livonia with a shifting coalition of the Polish-lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and other allies (1558-83) in just a prelude to what would be a series of subsequent conflicts, many of which would end badly for Russia. Ivan had wanted Russia to be a player on a wider stage, but he should have thought twice as to what this meant, as it meant Moscow was now up against great powers with capabilities beyond its reach.